A Few Reviews and Testimonials by our Guests

Thank you Bill and Marilyn for sharing your piece of New Zealand paradise with us. We have stayed at this gorgeous property several times now and every one of these visits have been just wonderful. Whether soaking up the sun on the deck, strolling through the organic orchid with Maia the dog and fat happy chickens around your feet or exploring the beautiful coastline, Tikapa Moana provides the perfect setting for peaceful relaxtion. Bill and Marilyn are truely the most welcoming and accomodating of hosts, who manage to perfectly balance attentiveness to your needs whilst maintaining your a sense of privacy. When you stay here you are treated as friends. We will definatly be back!!!

Jo Austin (Wellington, NZ) - 12/3/12

We had a wonderful long weekend stay at the gorgeous self contained apartment; our girls loved playing with Maya the dog, collecting eggs and feeding the hens, swimming and just wandering through the orchard. Everything is set up perfectly and with love for detail. We felt right at home. Thanks, BIll and Marilyn, for a great stay and a wonderful dinner! Gracias por todo, Danke für alles! Until the next!

Tania H (Mexico/Germany) - 21.10.11

What a wonderful experience. You don’t "visit" the "B&B"; you are received in Bill and Marilyn's home! But you at the very same time also have all the privacy and quiet you could ever hope for.

I am not a romantic (my wife can testify to this), but this was just what we needed. I don’t know who to thank most: my wife, who found Tikapa Moana Eco Spa Retreat or Bill and Marilyn who provided the experience. Well, let's say it was a deal made in heaven!

Paul Reyneke (South Africa/New Zealand) – 31.7.11

To Marilyn & Bill - WOW! You have a fantastic place, set in idyllic and very peaceful surroundings. We took a walk through the awesome fruit trees with a very helpful Maya! The rammed earth unit was amazing to stay in - with only a short stroll to the most relaxing and gorgeous pool we have ever had the pleasure of using! Our late night soak in the spa under the moonlight, with peeks of the stars was truely fabulous! For dessert & breakfast we enjoyed a wonderful fresh fruit salad, which was yummy! Thank you very much for our stay, we will be back!!!

Kerianne & Matthew Hull (Auckland N.Z.) - 12.2.11

At the risk of offending my fiance, I must say my hour of Watsu therapy at Tikapa Moana was the most pleasurable experience of my life. Watsu what, I hear you say? That’s what I ask soon after arriving at this sustainable lifestyle block with its rambling orchard, vege garden, chooks and Welcome-Sarah sign. My hosts, conservationist couple and experienced Watsu therapists Bill and Marilyn Brownell, explain. A gentle warm-water body therapy which combines elements of massage, shiatsu, joint mobilisation and stretching, Watsu helps relieve pain and stress while strengthening the body. Still, it’s not something I really get until I experience it.

Freshly showered, I’m ushered into the custom-made indoor pool heated by solar panels to the exact temperature of the human body. I float on my back (my face and nose staying out of the water) as Marilyn, using her own body weight, begins to bend my body in a rhythmical, dance-like flow, supporting, cradling and stretching me. I’m a weightless whirlpool in human form. As my body relaxes gradually and deeply, I let go. The inner monologue disappears from my mind, the stiffness from my muscles, the pain from my back. For once, I feel truly in my body, entirely well, whole, peaceful, and beautiful. When the session ends, I sit on the pool steps with eyes closed for a full ten minutes, soaking up the sensations, before I can even speak.

After lunch, there’s more Watsu in the outdoor spa with jets that massage pressure points like the lower back and feet. Bliss. Later, I spend an hour in a sauna that, judging by the startling volume of sweat, is banishing all those toxins. Then Marilyn unravels my knots with a magic massage that draws from reflexology and acupressure.

Come evening, I join Bill and Marilyn for a homegrown, homecooked meal and conversation before disappearing into the adjoining rammed-earth apartment with its own bathroom, kitchenette and lounge. You can be as private or separate as you want here. The flat sleeps three, and there’s also a roomy bach at the narrow property’s ocean end.

Something changes in me at Tikapa Moana. I already know that life is a treasure to savour rather a test to pass – but here, I see this philosophy in action and resolve to make it my own. Bill and Marilyn’s organic oasis reminds me of my childhood on a farmlet, but now I see it’s not just about hard slog: it’s about topping your home-grown salad with edible flowers, walking on the beach, waking to the birds. Because how you spend your day is how you spend your life.

Sarah Lang (Article she published in Health Smart magazine [Australia], March 2011 issue, p. 89)

Tikapa Moana has become a very special place for my husband Paul & I. We ’stumbled’ across it online just over two years ago and we recently had our third stay there. We feel that in the peaceful, nurturing surroundings we can relax and just ‘be’. It also goes without saying that we just love catching up with Bill, Marilyn and Maya.

I use a motorised wheelchair as I have a physical disability. I have always loved being in the water because this is the only time my body is ’free’. I experience a lot of pain and more recently anxiety and tension which was affecting my breathing. I had never experienced Watsu before so this was all new to me.

The only word I can find to describe Watsu is ‘Beautiful’. My breathing became deeply relaxed as did my body, the gentle stretching was painless unlike on ground. Whilst I loved the whole experience, my favourite part was being cradled - just beautiful.

Watsu is in no way intrusive like some other therapies can be. This is something that is very important to me because in my situation I rely on carers for assistance so am often in close physical contact with people and it can be uncomfortable at times.

For me the benefits of Watsu are indescribable, it was like my body knew this was the right way it needed healing, the only way I could become re-connected with my physical body again. I am looking forward to another Watsu session soon. Thank you Marilyn, it was such a pleasure receiving Watsu from you.

Niki Jackman (Auckland N.Z.) - 21.2.10